Law enforcement and the Public Works Department in Cornwall, England, are actively searching for an unidentified motorist accused of independently addressing a significant road issue by filling a large pothole with cement.
While British citizens are accustomed to less-than-ideal road conditions, locals in Cornwall faced additional challenges avoiding the area at the top of Tanhouse Road and Bodmin Hill in Lostwithiel due to a substantial hole in the road's center.
Officially closed at the start of April, the road's deterioration was attributed by a Cornwall Council spokesperson to an ongoing drainage dispute. However, a month of governmental inactivity prompted an anonymous individual to take matters into their own hands, filling the pothole with concrete over the first weekend in May. This makeshift repair temporarily reopened the road, but the Cornwall Council's road repair company, Cormac, closed it again, citing the lack of official work by their team.
Cornwall Highways leaders are now actively searching for the responsible individual, noting that the work was carried out without consent, including the removal of signs.
Motorist Takes Unauthorized Action: Private Company Expresses Anger
The company asserted that the road closure would persist until June 9, allowing time to address the backlog of pothole repairs. A Cornwall Highways manager appealed for community cooperation, stating, "If information regarding who carried out the works becomes known in the community, I would be grateful if details could be shared." Cornwall councilor Colin Martin, representing Lanreath and Lostwithiel, described the pothole as a symbolic representation of the crumbling public sector due to insufficient investment.
Colin Martin spoke to Cornwall Live, expressing, "The latest is that the road has been closed again and will remain closed until it is ‘properly’ repaired by Cormac, but they say this could be weeks away as all available teams have been diverted to filling smaller potholes on roads which are still open. Over the past two years, the Conservatives running Cornwall Council have cut the budget for road resurfacing and proactive maintenance. As a result of this short-sighted decision, potholes are now appearing across Cornwall faster than Cormac can fill them in."
This incident mirrors a previous occurrence in 2017 when a Toronto resident, faced with the city's estimated cost of $65,000 to $150,000 for a community garden's new park stairs, independently constructed them for a mere $550. However, the city's response to this citizen initiative was far from favorable, and the consequences are detailed below.
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